AMSTERDAM – Sacha Kljestan came on late to help set up the insurance tally as Anderlecht clinched third place in Champions League Group D with a 2-0 home victory over Galatasaray on Wednesday night.

The former Chivas USA ace entered with six minutes remaining, completing 10 of 11 passes as the Mauves ran down the clock. Kljestan's biggest contribution came in the 86th minute, when Galatasaray netminder Fernando Muslera could only parry his free kick as far as the waiting boot of Chancel Mbemba.

AMSTERDAM – Everton star Tim Howard notched his 150th shutout in his European club soccer career on Thursday night, blanking Europa League guests Lille 3-0 to keep his side on top of Group H.

The netminder required just two saves to post his fourth clean sheet in five games across all competitions. Howard's best moment came when he alertly pushed a Ryan Mendes drive over the bar on 21 minutes. Unbeaten through four group matches, Everton can clinch first place and a spot in the knockout stage by winning at Wolfsburg on Nov. 27.

AMSTERDAM – Three clubs with Americans on the payroll found out their UEFA Champions League group-stage pools on Thursday evening, with Julian Green's Bayern Munich drawing scary Group E assignments AS Roma, CSKA Moscow and English Premier League kings Manchester City.

Bayern Munich's stateside preseason tour is off to a successful start.

The defending German champions defeated Mexican side Chivas de Guadalajara 1-0 through a goal from Claudio Pizarro in a feisty friendly played at Red Bull Arena on Thursday night. Pizarro nodded home a Franck Ribery corner kick in the 24th minute, and Bayern held on for the win despite conceding some quality looks late in the match played in front of a sold-out crowd of 25,023.

Following a tweet from Serbian SuperLiga newshound SerbianFooty, a source close to the situation confirmed that the 25-year-old was being courted by the two eastern European suitors. Furthermore, MLSsoccer.com has learned that the admirer from Cyprus is one of the top five First Division finishers from last season and currently alive in Europe.

AMSTERDAM – Borussia Monchengladbach are expecting fresh catch Fabian Johnson to recover quickly from a hamstring strain suffered in the US national team's 2-1 World Cup loss to Belgium.

The 26-year-old, who joined the Foals on a free transfer at the end of his Hoffenheim deal, will join the team following a standard post-World Cup vacation, gathering with his new teammates in about two weeks when they return from a preseason camp located near the Austrian border.

The first proposed site for the stadium that will host Miami's future MLS franchise has been ruled out by Miami-Dade County commissioners, leaving David Beckham and Co. focused on a deep-water boat slip adjacent to American Airlines Arena in downtown Miami.

The commissioners voted 11-1 on Tuesday against the proposed stadium site at PortMiami, which had drawn the opposition of Royal Caribbean Cruises, who are headquartered next to the waterfront site.